About a Boy
by Christine Leigh
Summary: Missing scene from Three Words. Continuation of the conversation in Mulder's apartment after he first comes home.


TITLE: About a Boy  
AUTHOR: Christine Leigh  
RATING: K  
CATEGORY: Vignette  
SPOILERS: "Requiem" through "Three Words."

SUMMARY:Season eight. Missing scene from "Three Words." Continuation of the conversation in Mulder's apartment after he first comes home.

DISCLAIMER: All characters are the products of Chris Carter. They also belong to Ten-Thirteen Productions and the Fox Network. No copyright infringement intended. Two lines of dialogue are verbatim from "Three Words."

ARCHIVING: I'd appreciate a quick note first.

About a Boy  
by Christine Leigh

"Mulder..."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be cold or ungrateful. I just... I have no idea where I fit in. Right now. I just, uh... I'm having a little trouble processing everything."

Then a silence descends. It is not one of their patented ones where communication continues even though their voices are still. This is different. He can't remember the last time that neither knew what to say to the other, and the strangeness is throwing him to a place he doesn't want to be. He has experienced enough strangeness to last five lifetimes, and he craves the familiar. That craving suddenly takes a desperate turn, and he moves from his perch on the desk to sit on the couch.

"Mulder, I don't want to give you the wrong impression."

He motions to her to come sit and watches as she lowers herself as gracefully as a nearly eight-months pregnant woman can.

"Are you doing all right, Scully?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"What about..."

"That's what I meant-we're fine."

He takes a deep breath. Everything she has been to him she is still. That, Mulder doesn't question.

"Good. I didn't mean to interrupt before." He can see that she is mulling over whether to continue. He isn't sure he is ready to hear this, but uncertainty is worse. "Scully, whatever you were going to say, please, as long as you want to say it, don't hold back. I'm listening." She nods, and then before speaking moves so that they are almost next to each other. Then she takes his hand in hers.

"Mulder, the day I learned I was pregnant I cried harder than I ever before have in my life. First, for joy, and then in despair. This was in the space of about two hours." She pauses and closes her eyes for a second or two. No good, Skinner is still there; Mulder is not. It's a waking nightmare that won't go away, even now that Mulder is here. She looks at him, and resumes. "Do you remember the dizzy spells I had in Bellefleur?"

"Yes." His voice was faint.

"After you left with Skinner to go back, I had another one. It was much more severe than the others, and I was admitted to the hospital for tests. They ran a battery, but in the end the only thing wrong with me was that I was pregnant."

Mulder looks up from their hands and meets her gaze.

"I don't know..."

"What to say?" Scully nearly laughs. However hysterical, it feels good.

"How, Scully?"

"How, Mulder?" She smiles. Another time and another place, and the innuendo would have been difficult to keep pace with. Robbed of a so-called normal life, she has vowed not to let anything more be taken from her, and smiling is the first step toward achieving that promise. Still, her voice cracks a little when she speaks. "Well, a man once told me that even educated M.D.s do it."

He is dazed and confused. Nothing new there. Them. A baby. New, definitely. This baby is theirs. How? No, he mustn't utter that word again, at least not at the moment. Scully conceived a child naturally. With him. Happy? Yes, he is. He thinks. Is she? They'd never talked about it before. There was no need; it wasn't part of their realm. They are both alive and together, and she is carrying his child. An hour ago he was a stranger, but now for the first time since awakening he feels as though he has really returned. To life, and to them. The new them, that would be-a three-them instead of a two. Without thinking about it, Mulder removes the hand Scully has been holding and raises it to cup her cheek. So soft and warm. So home. Yes, this is home. For once life is biting him in the ass with good news.

"Us?"

"Yes, Mulder, us. I don't know why and neither do my doctors, but I want to believe that it's meant to be."

"I guess it must be."

"Mulder, I know this is a lot for you to take in. Are you all right?

"Yes. I'm just...just, I guess amazed might be a good word."

"It is." Now she can feel the tears coming, but they are of joy.

"Come here, Scully." He holds his arms out, and she goes straight into them, and to the embrace she had thought never to know again. They hold each other, gently rocking for a few minutes. There is so much to be said, but that will come later. Now they are having a reunion-a reunion of the tangible. In experiencing the touch of each other again, the simple fact that their hearts had never been apart is underscored. They pull away from each other only enough to do what they have not yet, and as their lips meet for the first time since they'd said good-bye before he'd left that night so long ago, promises fill the silence around them. There is one more thing, however, that occurs to Mulder and he is almost shy about it, but cannot stop himself from asking.

"Scully, do you know, uh, that is assuming you want to know, maybe you don't...but if you do, do you know?"

"We're having a boy, Mulder."

He ducks his head, rather like a boy himself, and then raises it and smiles wide.

"A boy."

End


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